Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-01-20
G. A. r. Campfire at BeetoMn.

IheGeo. Holloway Post, OF this place,
treated us to jolly good time at their
dance, last Friday night, at Ishmael's
Hall, and also to a supper in the Post
Hall. We can only say of this feature
of the evening that it was just the kind
of supper the old heroes used to dream
about while they were in the service of
Uncle Sam away back in the sixties.
The writer suffered during the war, and
although the names of the battles in
which he engaged are in no history, still
he has a fellow feeling for an old soldier.
How fresh these old times are in my
memory! / can see the enemy in the
shape Of cross school marin, armed
with a breach-loading switch charging
down at bare-legged, big-nosed. tow
headed little imp, about ten years old,
surrounding him in the corner where the
water bucket used TO stand. after an I'M
conditional surrender, wounding him in
over a million places, each shot hurting
a good deal more than minie-ball.
Why can't we fellows who went to school
during the war. to school-marms whose
sweethearts were in the army, have pen
sions? We had more battles, and suf-
fered more than the boys in blue. Sci
entists claim that only one bullet in 5, 796
hits a man battle, but who ever heard of
hickory switch missing boy9 1t is a
well known fact that the pain of a gun
shot wound is slight compared with that
tingling, nerve-scorching sensation that
cuts fellow in two every time the
teacher and the switch make a revolu-
ton. But will leave this painful sub
ject and tell about the dance. All the
old veterans who had escaped bullets,
measels, starvation and malaria, attend
ed. Lon Ishmael, assisted by Sam
Garner, James Champion and Charlie
Rankin, furnished music that would
make dead man pat his foot; Judge Of
the effect it had on the living. Every
body danced, from the trundle-bed hero
of thirteen whose mother walloped him
for staying so late, to the battled-scarred
veteran of '65 who was so stiff in the
knees that he couldn't walk the next
day. Old soldiers danced who hadn't
seen ball room since the war, and it
was funny to see them get alamand left,
promenade all, gents to the right and
chassez all, mixed up with By the file
left; Right about, march! March to the
left! etc. They handled their partners
as though they were muskets, and
marched, counter-marched, advanced.
In fact, each one seemed to put his own
Interpretation on what the caller said.
About 10 o'clock the first detail was
sent to supper. They found two tables
loaded with roast turkey, cold ham,
chicken pie, pickles, cakes, pies, and,
last but not least, great dishes of beans,
baked brown, with nice juicy chunk of
bacon in each. / heard lately of a man
who contracted a terrible appetite while
in the army and wants Il pension on that
disability. If it is allowed, about one
hundred and fifty veterans in this vicin-
ity will draw big back pay. The Wet
uals went so fast that the commissary
department was about to send a forag-
ing party for more, when it was dis
covered that some of the troops were
filling their stomachs and overcoat peck
cts also. A guard was Immediately
stationed at the door with orders to
capture all who left and turn their
pockets wrong-side-oUt. BY this man
agement enough was secured to keep
the table replenished until the Iron Bri-
gadeg the Canada Brigade, the Trundle-
bed Brigade, and the School-marm Bri-
gade were supplied with all the rations
they could stow away. After supper
the old vets mostly gathered in knots
of three or four and snapped lies about
war times. The younger members of
the company danced themselves almost
to death until about O'Clock, when all
went home, voting the campfire grand
success. The net proceeds were $31.75
which will be used by the Post to buy
gun-caps and bayonets, | suppose.
VENI.